President Donald Trump lauded Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as “our savior” to cheers from the crowd during his speech in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday.
Bessent was among several officials to join Trump for the speech, with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright also in attendance.
“We have our savior in this room. His name is Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent,” Trump said.
“If you’re picking the Secretary of the Treasury, is he like the perfect guy for a movie? He’s made for the–stand up, Scott, look at him. No, he’s central casting,” he added.
Trump, who complimented Bessent as “handsome,” said that “under that beautiful exterior is a killer,” meaning the secretary is highly effective in his role.
He then emphasized that Bessent and the Treasury Department are leading an investigation into reports of Minnesota taxpayer funds potentially being diverted to Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization.
“He is in charge of the investigation of Somalia and the billions of dollars they have robbed from Minnesota, right?” Trump said. “I hope you do your job. I hope you’re not one of these Republicans where something comes up, and they don’t do what they should do, because they’re nicer people.”
“You know, that they’re much nicer people than the Democrats. But Scott’s actually not a nice person at all,” he added. “So Scott, you’re in charge of that investigation? Okay, I’m not interfering at all. I’m just saying, please do a good job. Honest and fair.”
Trump also joked he wished he could switch jobs with Bessent so he could lead the investigation.
“I’d love to have that job. I may switch jobs with you. I’d love to have that job. They ought to get them the hell out of here. They hate our country,” he said, adding that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Omar’s “friends hate our country.”